5-year-old boy attacked by animal while hiking

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A large animal attacked a 5-year-old boy hiking with his family, seriously injuring him with puncture wounds to the head, neck and back, authorities said.

Jose Salazar Jr. was hiking near Sandia Peak east of Albuquerque and had run ahead of his parents on Saturday evening when they heard a scream, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said.

The boy's parents, Jose and Charlotte Salazar, saw the animal emerge from the brush and start dragging their son, White said. The father tried to jump on the animal's back, and it let go of the boy and fled.

The state Game and Fish Department said in a news release Monday that the child and his father identified the animal as a mountain lion.